Following on from our previous updates on the effect of the Government’s furlough scheme (the “Scheme”) and its impact on sales out of administrations, the Government has provided a further update, and the High Court has made its first decision on the interrelation between the Scheme and insolvency practice in the context of the recent administration of Italian restaurant chain, Carluccio’s.
We set out these two updates below:
The Government announced another update on 15 April 2020, where they extended the eligibility date to receive support from the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) to 19 March 2020 (the day before the Scheme was announced).
Employers, including administrators, can claim for furloughed employees that were employed, and on the company’s PAYE payroll, on or before 19 March 2020. In the context of a pre-pack sale, the principles of furlough and TUPE are still the same and employees that have been TUPE transferred to another business will be eligible for furlough provided they were on the transferor’s payroll as at 19 March 2020.
The Government has confirmed that the employee must have been notified to HMRC through a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment in respect of that employee on or before 19 March 2020.
This extension is over 3 weeks from the original cut-off date of 28 February 2020. This change will mean that thousands more workers can be furloughed in attempts by the Government to assist as many people as possible.
The High Court has made its first decision in relation to the Scheme and how it impacts insolvency practice. The Joint Administrators of Carluccio’s Limited (in administration) (“the Company”) applied to the Court for directions as to how to implement the furlough scheme and comply with the provisions of the Insolvency legislation.
The directions related to the legal basis upon which the Administrators might place a large number of the employees of the Company on furlough pursuant to the Government's Scheme. The Government’s guidance states that the Scheme is available to companies in administration where “there should be a reasonable likelihood of the employees resuming work either for the company itself or after a sale of the business by the administrators”.
The Company has over 70 branches and around 2,000 employees. Shortly after the Administrators’ appointment, the Administrators wrote to all of the Company’s employees inviting them to agree to a variation of their employment contracts so as to take advantage of the Scheme. The letter confirmed that the Company would only be able to pay employees following receipt of the grant from the Government. The letter sought the agreement of each employee to the terms of the letter and to go on furlough leave. The employees were asked to respond by email by 3 April 2020.
The majority of employees accepted its terms (“Consenting Employees”), only 4 rejected it (“Objecting Employees”) and 77 had not responded (“Non-Responding Employees”).
Snowden J handed down judgment with directions on 13 April 2020 and held as follows:
- if they accept the offer in the letter prior to the expiry of 14 days into the administration, they will stand in precisely the same position as the Consenting Employees; or
- if, however, the Non-Responding Employees do not accept the offer in the letter prior to the expiry of 14 days into the administration, and nothing else happens, the Administrators will not be treated as having adopted the unvaried contracts of employment of the Non-Responding Employees by the mere failure to terminate those contracts prior to the expiry of the 14 day period. Moreover, it was held that there will be nothing done or said by the Administrators that could amount to an election to treat those unvaried contracts as giving rise to super-priority liabilities in the administration. This was the vital analysis that would enable the Administrators to avoid having to take the precaution of dismissing the Non-Responding Employees prior to the expiry of 14 days into the administration. Any Non-Responding Employees who subsequently accept the variation after the expiry of 14 days will be dealt with in the same manner as the Consenting Employees;
The above shows the Court’s flexibility towards making the Scheme work for administrators in insolvency situations. The judgment does not bind employees or the Government because it had not been served on all employees and the Government as a result of the urgency of the application, however it serves as a very useful authority on the Court’s first approach to the interaction between furlough and insolvency practice in an ever updating climate.
The full transcript of the judgment can be accessed here.
If you have any queries or would like to discuss any issues arising out of the above, please contact a member of the Insolvency team.
The information on this site about legal matters is provided as a general guide only. Although we try to ensure that all of the information on this site is accurate and up to date, this cannot be guaranteed. The information on this site should not be relied upon or construed as constituting legal advice and Howes Percival LLP disclaims liability in relation to its use. You should seek appropriate legal advice before taking or refraining from taking any action.
To contact us, please fill out this form and we will get back in touch as soon as possible. Your personal data will be processed in accordance with our privacy policy which can be found here.
Thank you for your enquiry. We will respond as soon as possible.
